Tyranna shareholders reject Jumbuck gold project sale

Tyranna Resources’ (ASX:TYR) plan to sell the Jumbuck gold project in South Australia’s Gawler Craton has been smacked down by shareholders who voted overwhelmingly against the transaction.

Shareholders holding more than 90 per cent of the company’s shares voted against the proposal to sell the Jumbuck project to Syngas Limited for $2.25m.

And that’s not the end of the company’s woes.

Its remuneration report also failed to pass muster with enough shareholders at its annual general meeting in Perth yesterday voting against it.

However, Tyranna might still have an opportunity to raise funds to progress exploration at the Dragon & Knight nickel project in Western Australia.

The company noted late yesterday that while it has terminated the sale of the Jumbuck gold project to Syngas, it was now in a position to consider alternative offers for the project.

This includes Marmota’s (ASX:MEU) formal fully-funded $3m offer for the project, which is right next to its own ground.

Jumbuck gold project tale

Marmota’s offer could mark the end of a tale that dates back to October last year when Tyranna first announced that it was selling the Jumbuck gold project to Syngas for a mere $950,000.

This was trumped by Marmota’s initial $1.3m cash and share offer in May that was rejected on grounds that the offer from Syngas included “binding exclusivity obligations”.

Alliance Resources (ASX:AGS) then stepped in with a $2.025m bid that was followed by Marmota doubling its offer to $2.6m in cash. That failed to dissuade Tyranna’s management from their deal with Syngas.

Perhaps realising that its offer was looking a little sparse compared to the competing bids, Syngas moved to increase its offer to $2.25m in August. That was recommended by Tyranna’s directors despite being – as Marmota described to Stockhead – “manifestly inferior”.

Tyranna subsequently revealed that its agreement with Syngas included a $250,000 termination fee, a clause that the ASX took offence at, leading to its removal and possibly eliminating the last obstacle to shareholders’ decision to kill it off.